Page 141 of Grave Revelations

Sophia slid out of the angel’s palm, and her sisters followed suit. They landed in deep snow, sinking into it.

The angel dipped his head, leaning down. “Remain here, little one. The fight is nearly done. Protect the humans until we return for you.”

“Where are we?” she yelled to the creature.

“Alaska.” He stood.

“Wait! How will we know when it’s done?”

“When the sun rises, and you remain on the mortal plane.” He launched into the sky, giving her no time to ask more questions. What could he mean?

She supposed she would find out when the time came.

Chapter 95

Gabriel

Gabriel swept his gaze over the stark white walls of his room, and for the first time in centuries, calm settled over him—a sense of inner peace he’d never imagined feeling again.

Beneath it all, though, guilt gnawed at him, demanding he rejoin the fight. He’d sat out long enough. Rebecca was in the safest place until he could end things with Samael once and for all, and when the fighting was over, he would find her. If he had to, he would bring down the realm to return to her side.

He stepped out of his room and halted, looking up into dark eyes that had once mirrored his own. “Aniel.”

Aniel’s normally somber expression was lighter, more hopeful than Gabriel had ever seen it. Aniel reached for his brother, wrapping an arm around each forearm.

“Do you come to join the fight?”

Aniel shook his head, his gaze traveling out the arched window to the sparkling souls swimming lazily over a field of golden stalks.

“The end,” Gabriel said, squeezing his brother’s arms. “Stay with them and usher them into the new era.”

Aniel nodded, his lips inching up at the corners. It was the closest Aniel had come to a smile in three millennia. It sent a burst of hope clattering through Gabriel as he ran for the gates.

Gabriel landed on cracked, scorched earth and gazed over what remained of Bath, North Carolina. The fight had long since departed this part of the world, and all signs of life had gone with it.

He launched into the night sky, sweeping over an endless terrain of destruction. Where human dwellings and paved streets had once carved a path over the landscape, there was nothing now but thick smoke and scarred earth.

He soared higher, reveling in the cool mist ghosting over newly formed feathers as he burst through the clouds in search of his brethren, the demons, Samael.

A tremor ran through him. Thinking of Samael brought back visions of that dark room: Rebecca raising her hands overhead, plunging bone into her chest. A pain worse than death cleaving through him as she died and their bond was severed.Again.

Samael would pay. He would feel every ounce of suffering Gabriel had when his mate was torn away, cast into oblivion as she was cleaved from him. He didn’t have the lance, but without Primoria’s magic to restore him, Samael could be killed once and for all.

Lightning flashed in the distance, and he sped forward, barreling toward it.

A wide grin split his face when he stopped in America’s capital, hovering just over the once pristine building that housed their nation’s leader. Hordes of demons swarmed the seraphim, outnumbering them ten to one, and at their center, a shadowy king spread flaming wings.

“Satan!” he shouted, and the Fallen’s attention fell on him.

Samael’s dark laugh reverberated across the expansive distance, rolling like thunder. All at once, demons turned to face him, their king singling Gabriel out. They redirected, buzzing toward him in a great swarm.

Calling lightning from the sky, Gabriel formed two spears and tipped forward, racing to meet them.

Arcs of light shot from his spears, ricocheting off dusky forms as they approached. He didn’t slow, tearing through them as he shot ahead.

Brightly-hued beings appeared on his left and right, flanking him as he advanced. He grew—expanding, stretching, forcing his form to its limit. Around him, his brothers and sisters ripped through their demon enemies, paving his way.

Samael’s manic grin faltered only a moment before Gabriel slammed into him, embedding both spears deeply in his chest.

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